Jar-cap.



vi. D. SCHMITT.. IAB CAP PPLIC'I'IOI FILED FEB. M 1915.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917-.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

EDWARD D. SCHMITT, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGN'OR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, T0 THE AMERICAN PUBIEFOOD PROCESS COMPANY, OF BALTIMORE, MARY-mn'n, a concurren or DELAWARE.

'IAB-CAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

applicati@ mea February 4, 191s'. serial no. aoos.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWAEDYD. SCHMITT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain newand useful Inlilprovements in Jar-Caps, of which the fo owing is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in jar caps, and moreparticularly to a cap especially adapted for milk jars or bottles, orbott es having comparatively large mouths.

Y cap which serves as the opening means, so

that the metal ofthe rim will be twisted apart, rather than torn. Thisis accomplished with a very slight force, making the cap readily removabe by hand.

A further object of the lnvention is to provide means whereby a portionof the cap which covers the closing member or disk, may be quicklybrought into position toalbe grasped by the,hand in removing the se In map lication filed January 14 1915, Serial um r 2,147, series of 1915,show a cap quite similar in construction and mode ofsoperation, to thepresent ca but diering 1n certain essential and hlghly advantageousfeatures, as will be described.

In the ca just referred to,l the opening dps partially across theclosing disk, but is secured thereto only at itsl base, andfurthermore,is of such constructlon as will not prevent dust or foreign matter fromaccumulating upon the top ,of said disk,

whereas', in the present construction, this addedfeature'appears. Thecapis so constructed that any attempt to remove 1t for the purpose ofrefilling or adulteration, may

be readily detected.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top of ,a milkbottle, with the cap applied.

Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the edge of the opening lever slightlyraised to bring it above the inner edge of the securing rim to aposition where it ma be readily grasped by hand, at the beginn g of theopening operation.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the central portion of the cap raisedand occupyin the position where it has twisted the meta of the rimapart, between the base of the` opening, lever and the first two notchesor cuts, and

Fig. 4 is a broken sectional view of a portion of the top of a lbottleand cap, showlng' the manner in which the outer of the opening lever andinner edgeo the securing rim mpinges slightly into the disk, when t ecap is applied.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the usual milkbottle, rovided with the usual annular bead 2, t e under side of which,in the present instance, serves as a locking shoulder or surface for thecap, which is applied to the jar by a suitable machine, and'crimped orindented into locking engagement with the shoulder. The numera 3designates the ca which comprises a securing rim 4, forme with a flatupper portion 5 and a depending flange or skirt 6,

the lower edge of which is locked to the bottle. The cap is cut throu hto form a central openin lever 7, whic is integral with the rim at t epoints a, and at the points b,

The securing rim is provided adjacent to'the points a, and outsidethereof, with vtwo cuts 8, whichextend almost entirely across the u per`flat portion of the securing member.- hese cuts terminate 'ust short ofthe ends of two similar cuts made in the flange 6 of the cap, the lowerends of the cuts 9 terminating just short of the lower edge of saidflange, thus leaving, between the cuts 8 land 9, a small amount ofunbroken met-alc, and, between the lower ends of said cuts and the lowered e of the cap, similarfunbroken parts d, t e metal between the partsbeing ada ted to be twisted apart with ease, by. t e peculiar leveragewhich is given in the'manner about to be described.4

The numeral 10 designates two ribs stamped upwardly in the opening lever7, and extending some distance back into the opening lever, and a shortdistance on to the at portion of the securing rim. These ribs are forthe purpose of stiiiening the metal of the opening lever adjacent to thecuts 8, so that when the said opening lever is raised it will not bendacross the ribbed portion, but instead, will cause the opening force tobe applied at the points a, so that the metal at this point is readilytwisted a art. A further upward movement of t e lever twists the metalapart at the points c while still further movement twists the parts dapart, thus ermitting the securing rim to be removed:- rior'tothisoperation, the very slight connections b between the opening leverand the upper surface 5 of the rim have been broken.

NZormally, the central portion of the cap is iush with the inner ed geof the rim, and in order to be able to raise this slightly above therim, to be readily gripped by the hand, I rovide the openin lever with acentral raised portion 11 an the opening lever is attached to the rim ontwo opposite sides. as shown at b. By pressing down upon this centralportion, the edge of the openiig lever, beyond the points bzwill be foreslightly upward, as shown in Fig. 4, which obviously, faciliatates thegripping of the lever to start the opening operation. This centralportion which is cambered upwardly, serves as a stifening means for thatportion of the lever ad'acent to the inner ends of the ribs 10, so t atthe whole lever is' sti'ened at the points necessary to bring about thetwisting action in rupturing the parts et the metal necessary to bebroken, to remove the cap.

The numeral 12 desi ates a disk, referably of cardboard or ot ercompressi le Inaterial, which forms the closing member, an is adapted tomake sealin ,contact between the securn rim and the lip of the bottle,as shown in 'g. 4.

In manufacture, thev tool for cutting the opening lever from the arm isso sha that two short indenting points 13 and 14, are provided, on theinner edge of the rim, and the outer edge of the locking lever,respectively. These, in the a plication of the sealing pressure, areslight y indented into the disk 12, so as to prevent lateral movement ofthe central portion of the disk, thus holding it erfectly Hat, as shownin Fig. 4.

It will ge understood that the securing rim, and closing member areassembled, so that the whole cap, comprising the securing rim, openinglever, and disk, may be handled as a concrete article.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the formation is such that theentire centrai portion of the cap is virtually closed, thus protectingthe disk from dust or foreign matter, a thing very desirable and es'sential in handling milk.

The cap has `been described as being particularly adapted for use inconnection' with milk bottles, but it will be understood that it may beemployed in other connections, where it would be useful.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A closure for jars comprising a securing rim, formed with an upperfiat portion and a depending flange by which it may be secured to thelocking shoulder of aejar, and a central portion filling the spacewithin the rim and serving as an opening lever, and having narrowportions b integral with the rim at opposite sides, and also narrowportions c integral with the rim, at the base of said lever, the narrowside portions servin as points upon which a art of the centra portionmay be rocked, 1n the opening operation, the rim of the closure beingpro vided with spaced cuts on its upper iattened surface and extendingpartially thereacross, and also cuts on the flange whose upper endsterminate adjacent to the outer ends of the iirst mentioned cuts andmeans for stiil'ening the lever so that when said lever is lifted, itwill be twisted apart Yat the sides and adjacent to the base of thelever, to le move the seal.

2. A bottle cap comprising a securing rim having a Bat upper surface anda depending flange by which latter it may be secured to a. lockingsurface' on the exterior of a `ar, and an opening lever filling thespace witliin the rim and having narrow portions integral with the rimat opposite sides, and also h aving narrow portions integral with therim, adjacent to the base of said lever, a raised central portion forstiifening the lever and also adapted to be manually depressed to throwone edge of the lever above the inner edge of the rim, for the purposeset forth, the rim being provided at its top adjacent to the base of thelever, with cuts extendin partially acro the flat portion thereo therebeing alsocuts in the fla whose upper ends terminate short of t e firstmentioned cuts, stiiening ribs adjacent to the base of `the lever,whereby the rim and the adjacent portions of the lever are stiiened, sothat when the lever is lifted, the points at the side of saidlever andalso the points between the cuts, will be twisted apart to unlock theseal.

' In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witn.

EDWARD D. SCHMITT.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS S. Mnermm, FRANK G. Bmnron.

